Presiding Judge John E. Martin set March 5 for the start of a trial that is expected to last three weeks.

Leila Fowler, 8, was found fatally stabbed on April 27. Initially, investigators conducted a massive search based on the brother's statement that he saw an intruder fleeing the house. He later recanted that statement. On May 11, the boy, then 12, was arrested on murder charges.

Calaveras County District Attorney Barbara Yook estimates the prosecution will need nine days to present its evidence. Mark J. Reichel, one of the boy's attorneys, said the defense will probably need five days.

The trial could be the first murder case heard in the new Calaveras County courthouse scheduled to open for business Thanksgiving week.

Martin noted that because of the length of the trial, he will assign it to a courtroom reserved for long cases. But Martin said he does not yet know which judge will preside over the trial.

Martin said he hopes to know who will preside over the trial before the boy returns to court Dec. 4 to schedule pre-trial proceedings. Those proceedings will likely be law and motions hearings at which the boy's attorneys could seek to exclude some of the evidence gathered by investigators.